Railway stocks shed two-thirds of their value after 1845, with the index of shares ending up below where it had been before the first mania commenced in 1835. Railway shareholders, including the Brontë sisters and Charles Darwin, suffered painfully. (Edward Chancellor)

So, now that’s what I try to do: send a hand-written note or letter. I use Parker blue-black ink that gurgles when I fill one of my fountain pens. I hold the paper and the pen like that person in the movie, wait a moment, bend my wrist and then try to sweep the strokes like Miss Casey would want. I pause at intervals to bring the pen to my nose to smell the ink at its tip while thinking of school days and of the person to whom I am writing. (Do you remember having pen pal?) I feel as if I am in a Bronte novel or that old English movie with a camera over my shoulder. There is a special pleasure in holding a fountain pen and having it respond to your thoughts.